It seems odd that Marji’s father would choose to believe the statement “politics and sentiments don’t mix” when her mother and he are going out to the protests. Maybe he has an internal conflict on how he really feels about that and tells Marjane that “politics and sentiment don’t mix” in the hopes that it will deter her from getting involved. That idea seems like one valid explanation because parents or a family in general always works to protect one another, especially their own children. I do not think that Marji believes in what her father had said to her; otherwise she would not have come back those times that she left Iran. If she took what her dad said to heart then she would have left them a long time ago and not have had so much turmoil with leaving for Austria the first time. Obviously you need family to get through any tough situation and Marjane’s family did the best they could.
I think both her mother and grandmother want to believe in what Marjane’s father said, but it is especially hard when they do not believe that what is going on in politics is right. If you do not agree with what is going on in politics then it is hard for anyone to ignore the situation and to keep their emotions from fueling their own opposition, hence the protests. Marjane’s family though has tried to teach her that it is okay for her to be herself within reason and to not let the revolution and war define her. They let her become somewhat westernized, with her music and clothing, and teach her that it is okay to stand up for what you believe in. The latter is shown by example as well as discussing it, like when they would throw parties and drink wine when both were strictly forbidden. Even though they were disobeying, they justified doing these things so that they could keep their sanity in a time when their government literally controlled their every move. It was healthy, but risky, on their part to allow Marjane such freedoms in her individuality.
I personally do not agree with her father’s statement at all. It would be nice if it was true, but that is just not how it is. I am not much of a political person, but from what I have seen, a lot of it is fueled by emotion. You cannot make everyone happy and there will always be people that do not agree with a law or a ruling or what have you. The balance is hard to find, but it can be done if people take the time and energy to find it. People are going to have their opinion no matter what and whether they choose to express it in an acceptable manner is debatable. I do not think that the emotional aspect of politics will ever go away because we are not a society of robots and neither is Iran no matter how hard they tried to make them that way.
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I agree. Although Marji's father's idea would be the ideal situation, it simply is not true. People are sentimental beings, thus the protests, risking breaking the law, etc.
ReplyDeleteMarjane's family is too involved for them to actually live by what Ebi said. I, too, think Mr. Satrapi told Marji that due to her age- she was still a young girl at the time he told her "Politics and Sentiment" don't mix. This may have been because Marji seemed to be going overboard with the emotional, over-romanticized daydreams Marji was having about her family's invovlement in the war- like her Uncle Anouche, her grandfather's royal blood, her mother growing up in poverty, etc.
I also agree with what you said about Marji’s return to Iran. Even though dangerous, it was based on her emotional need (I, personally, would have made my parents get out of Iran or something- I would not have stayed for money) for her family. Ideally, yes, politics and sentiment do not mix, but part of growing up (which Satrapi explores in her book to some great extent), even in hard times, is finding a balance between sentimentality and reason, even when the two are greatly involved.